Wednesday, 25 November 2015

Business
in 2015 has been one of the most challenging for many companies. The
fluctuating oil prices and terrorism are some factors that shaped business decisions
in 2015. The stakes are high; and companies are racing towards out-performing
each other in terms of product development and customer satisfaction. That
notwithstanding, many companies have succeeded in being above board,
innovating, creating new products and giving customers more value for their
money. New products hardly appeal to customers for long before they start
demanding for something better, and companies are out to ensure that they come
to the market when it matters most. Companies like Spacex, Google, Apple,
Samsung etc have done relatively well this year, and a closer look at them will
show a common denominator and pattern which small businesses can adopt.

Here
are a few things innovative companies have done consistently in 2015 to remain
successful in the market.

They
integrate their dynamic capabilities: Successful
companies adapt to changing business environment using their competencies. Innovative
companies make the best use of their competencies both within and outside their
company to address emerging problems in the world. Samsung embraced Google’s
Android operating system and other applications to run on its hardware instead
of building its own. They were able to harness both their internal and external
competencies to remain the market leaders.

They are continuously changing: Innovative companies are proactive. They don’t wait for problems to
occur before taking steps to address it. They know when the market is saturated
and it’s ready for something new. They set pace and decide the trend in the
market. Alibaba is an online company that is not just into buying and selling
online, but has moved from the financial industry to the entertainment
industry. It is eBay-Amazon-Paypal
put together. These companies are never late to the market, they know
when the ovation is over, and when it’s time to move on to something new.

They invest in people: The best of the innovative companies in 2015 are those that invested in people. They are
particular about supporting and challenging their employees and others with
direct or indirect contact with their company to explore their innovative
power. Providing an enabling environment for people to be creative is what
keeps Google, Apple, Spacex etc going in business. As an entrepreneur, have you
invested in yourself, how about those working for the success of your business?
Innovating
in business is one of the most challenging activities an entrepreneur will ever
face, but with the right people and the right investment on them, you are sure your
business is ready for the future.

They provide better value: Customers always
love buying more for less. For a customer, an innovative company is one that
will charge less for the same or even better services or products. For
instance, Tesla cars are technologically developed to be affordable as well as
environmentally friendly. The beauty and attractiveness of any innovative
product is the value added. Yes, you cannot reinvent-the-wheel in your
business, but the values you are planning to add in the forth coming year could
make the difference.

Open Innovation: No company is self reliant. Successful innovative
businesses have made open innovation a part of their strategy for new product
development. This helps them in partnering with people outside the company in
creating a new product as well as sharing the risk. Samsung as well as other
companies have been engaging in relationships with global consortiums, Universities,
Materials vendors, Research centres etc with the aim of advancing their technology.

For
small businesses, competing in the same market with established businesses in
the coming year requires identifying what they have done and will continue to
do to remain relevant in the market. Those could be your guide in shaping your
business strategy.

Thursday, 19 November 2015

One of the
characteristics of great organisations is the ability to develop a culture of
innovation. This is a culture that puts a system in place to help the business always
develop new-to-the-market products as well as improve on existing products
seamlessly. It will be a herculean task bridging the gap between your business,
the market and your customers if innovation is not a way of life in your company.

Innovation is
like a switch, without turning on the right knob, it will not be enabled to
work for your business. In Nigeria, many businesses are yet to enable the
innovation culture; they still operate a laggard culture i.e. they are slow to
innovate, they focus most of their abilities refurbishing or repairing past
innovative successes and soon, they are driven out of the market without
knowing it – the Blackberry Company is an example. They have perfectly
developed a culture to renovate (fixing current problems) rather than
developing a culture that will enable innovation (building and testing new
solutions) in their businesses.

If your business is
stuck already in the renovation culture, it’s time to stop fixing problems with
old solutions. You need to move away from repairs, restoration, and
reconstruction of ideas to novelty, advancement and originality of ideas by
building a culture of innovation into your business. Here are a few steps you
can take towards developing a culture of innovation in your business:

Decide what innovation really means to your business

Culture is a way
of life, and what makes a culture tick is the shared language and understanding
of phenomenon. Building a culture of innovation requires every member of your organisation
to speak the ‘same language,’ and have a common understanding of what
innovation means to the business. This common understanding of innovation in
turn reflects on every task carried out in your company. Organisations define
innovation differently, and this definition is affected by the availability of
resources as well as the goals the businesses set out to achieve hence, you
cannot define innovation in your business the way your competitor did. You will
never get the same result.

Make learning a habit

The first law of
innovation is learning and acquiring new knowledge. It is knowledge that drives
innovation. Creating an innovation culture entails being a ‘learning company.’
Open up the information system within your organisation, work on improving the
level of interaction among employees on one hand, and with the outside world on
the other. There is nothing like a lone genius, great innovations came about as
a result of multiple interactions amongst people. Like Tom Kelly, CEO of the
design firm IDEO pointed out, “Y our only real path to innovation is through
people. You can’t really do it alone.” Learning as much as possible from
both within and outside your business puts you in a better position to always innovate.

Change your perception of risk

Nothing fuels
innovation like a free atmosphere to exercise your mind. Many organisations are
slow to innovate even with smart employees because there is no room for
failure. Developing a culture of innovation in your company requires creating
an atmosphere where people are not afraid to fail. While it is good to be
cautious in taking certain business decisions, care needs to be taken to avoid
shutting out ideas that may yield innovative products. According to NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement,
UK, “Make it routine and acceptable to talk about ideas that were
tried but ‘failed’. Work from the mindset that the only ‘failure’ is the
failure to learn, and that not sharing and learning from things that don’t go
as planned is waste and lost productivity” When innovating, don’t think of
success or failure of an attempt, rather talk about the lessons learned.

Finally, while moving from
a culture of renovation to innovation is challenging, entrepreneurs must see to
it that they nurture an environment that will introduce new ideas and new ways
of thinking by modelling their business strategy around innovation, and developing
a system that challenges the norm.

Wednesday, 11 November 2015

The Lagos International Trade Fair is on. New customers
are being acquired just as existing customers are being lost to other
businesses. An international trade exhibition holds alot of benefits for the
economy as well as businesses. As it is now, over 60,000 temporary jobs have
been created, and alot of goods and cash are exchanging hands at the event.

To businesses, exhibition events are a great avenue
to make new customers especially for new products or features. It provides an
opportunity for you to show-case your goods, and engage new customers. A lot of
customers get the chance to try new products, and may eventually remain with
the new product if it provides more benefits.

While at the fair as a small business owner, you may
not have all the luxury and resources to engage in promotional activities like
big businesses, but there are few things you can do to get the best out of a
trade exhibition, and also to increase your chances of getting customers to
switch to your product if possible.

Build
a good reputation they can’t resist

The reputation of any business influences how
customers remain loyal to it. It deals with an attribute or
characteristics you want your business to be known for, and it can be in form
of financial performance, product quality, service quality, management effectiveness
or the integrity of the owners. A good reputation can enhance customers’ trust
and confidence in a business, and help them in making the decision about the business.
Trade fair or exhibition event is an opportunity for you to build that
reputation that customers will love to associate with.

Understand
where their dissatisfaction is coming from

No matter how good a product is, there is always an
element of dissatisfaction either in the product or in services that accompany
it. The only reason customers are still loyal to a business or product is that
there is no better alternative yet or such element of dissatisfaction is
negligible when compared with benefits that come with the product. During such an
event, customers are looking for something better and new in a product and knowing
where customers find dissatisfaction in competitor’s product or service can
help you find a new feature in your product. There is nothing that makes it
easier for customers to switch brand like dissatisfaction. If you can identify where
customers are not yet satisfied in a product, and can fill that void, you are
likely to win more customers.

Improve
on your service failure response

Service
failures are inevitable in business, but ability to respond promptly is key to
keeping your customers. It’s interesting how prompt businesses are responding
to service failures at the venue of the trade exhibition. No business wants to
lose customers on account of not meeting their needs. Service failures can
provoke negative complaints and if not properly dealt with could drive away
customers. Prompt response to service failures is now being used as selling
point and a competitive advantage at the event.

Engage, Engage, Engage

If you can’t any other thing during a trade exhibition,
you must engage with other participants customers and other businesses alike.

The whole essence of a trade fair is not just to
make quick sales but to learn new tricks as well as engage potential customers.
Getting visitors at a trade exhibition to come to your business later as
customers is great, but keeping as ‘your customers’ is the ultimate.

Thursday, 5 November 2015

Patent and registered designs are not issues many
entrepreneurs and small businesses like you take serious, and for some, it is a
case of complete ignorance of what the law expects from them, and how they can use
it to protect themselves.

Over the past few days, I counselled a small business owner
who is a casual Foot wear designer. He was worried that his product designs
were being copied and reproduced at a cheaper rate by an unregistered business.
He wants to take it up legally because those who could not afford his product
of N4000 for a pair, goes to this other guy to
reproduce it at N800.

It was enough reason to be worried especially when someone
is feeding from your hard work however,
you have to ensure that legally, you have the right over the property
you are claiming. So I ask him, 'How can you prove that this other guy is
copying your designs?' he showed me a label of his registered business name on
his product, and said, "I have registered this business, I was the first
to come up this design."

At this point, I knew that he just like so many other
entrepreneurs know much about business and their products but lack sufficient
knowledge of the laws guiding as well as protecting their business or product.

When it comes to innovative products and designs, the law
specified criterias that give you ownership or patent right. Some are:

Your registered business doesn't
cover your intellectual property

This entrepreneur believes that his registration of a business
name automatically covers that of his designs, and that placing his label on
the product was enough to indicate that he owes the design. The first lesson I brought
to his notice was that there are different laws guiding each. Registering your
business name is different from registering your company, as well as different
from registering an intellectual property.

Patent right is given to the first
person to file a claim, not the first to take it to the market

When the young man said that he was the first to come up
with the idea, I laughed because the Nigerian law says, '...the right to a
patent in respect of an invention is vested in the statutory inventor, that is
to say, the person who, whether or not he is the true inventor, is the first to
file, or validly to claim a foreign priority for, a patent application in
respect of the invention...' by
implication, it doesn't matter who came up first with the idea or design, what
the law recognises is the first person to file a claim of ownership. If you
have not filed a claim of ownership of a design or invention, you can't call it
yours.

Once it is made public before
filing a claim, you can no longer lay claim to it.

By law, you are not expected to make an invention or design
you wish to patent public before filing a claim. Making it public before
filing, invalidates your claim. The man said he was going to file a claim for
the designs, but unfortunately, it was
already late. The design has been in the market for the past three years, so
nobody can claim to owe it again. The law only allows for a period of 6 months
in case you want to exhibit it officially in an internationally recognised
exhibition.

In business, there are laws to protect your creativity, however
you must know when and where it applies. That you were the first to come up
with an idea in business doesn't give you ownership or patent right over the
product. Depending on the country or region where your business is located, it
is your responsibility as a business owner to get acquainted with the law to
help you protect your business as well as your products from pirates.